Bangalore based AriaTex is planning to add 600 sewing machines in its new unit at Dabaspet Industrial Area within this Financial Year. Their latest unit, which was commissioned in December 2011, is presently equipped with 410 machines. AriaTex has four manufacturing units with 1700 sewing machines, producing 5,00,000 units per month. The company produces both men’s wear and ladies wear; while in men’s wear it produces shirts, denim bottoms and hoodies, in ladies wear it produces tops, skirts and dresses.
Exporting its products to United States, Europe and Australia, the major buyers for AriaTex are H&M and Gap. In an interaction with Team StitchWorld, Ranjit Pillai, Managing Director, AriaTex, talking about his manufacturing setup, said “Our growth relies on our credibility for quality; our production line utilizes batch processing where quality control specialists are incorporated within the production lines, components of a garment are moved in bundles from one operation to another which reduces errors and confusion in production.” Pillai has over two decades of both regional and international experience of management and strategic planning in the garment manufacturing industry.
As per Pillai, the company’s batch production system is very stable because high WIP (Work in Progress) acts as a buffer to breakdowns of machinery, worker absenteeism, and style changeover times in production where repairs are easily managed.
Due to the repetitive nature and rhythm of the operation, productivity among workers is higher than other systems. “With the new facility in place, we plan to achieve the annual growth rate of 20 per cent,” added Pillai.
Prior to becoming AriaTex in 2007 (after the ownership changed), the company was known as ‘Update Apparel’. Hersh Saluja is the founder and Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of AriaTex Private Limited.
